Cheung Chau Bun Festival 12-18 May 2013
Who to believe? Some say the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is held every year to placate the ghosts of the victims of pirates who used the dumbbell-shaped island as their lair, while others maintain it a commemorates the liberation of the island’s residents from a plague some 200 years 
ago. What pretty much everyone is agreed on, though, is that it’s a time for one big party! Officially the Cheung Chau Bun Festival falls on the fifth to the ninth days of the fourth lunar month – this year’s festivities go from May 12 to 18, with a Chinese Opera performance every night to May 21 at Pak Tai Temple, starting at 7:30pm. But the festival’s undoubted highlight will be a spectacular parade from 2-4pm and a midnight ‘bun snatching’ competition on 17 May centred around the Pak Tai Temple Plaza and adjacent Football Court.
The complete event schedule is as follows:
| Date | Time | Activities | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May | Noon to 6pm | Climbing Carnival • Climbing demonstrations • Game stalls • Variety shows |
Soccer Pitch of Pak Tai Temple Playground |
| 14 May | 10am to 9pm | • Ceremony inviting deities to Pak Tai Temple • Ritual marking start of Bun Festival |
Pak Tai Temple Plaza |
| 14 – 21 May | 7:30pm to 11pm | • Chinese opera performances | Pak Tai Temple Plaza |
| 16 May | 2:30pm to 3:15pm 3:45pm | • Lion and Unicorn Dances • Ritual and Chinese Acrobatic Performances |
Pak Tai Temple Plaza |
| 17 May | 10:30am 2pm Midnight |
• Unicorn and Kung Fu Performance • Bun Festival Parade • Bun Scrambling Competition* |
Pak Tai Temple Plaza |
| 18 May | 2pm | • Ceremony to send the deities back to their temples | Pak Tai Temple Plaza |